9:30pm - Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Greenberg has a 45 day exclusivity window with which to complete the sale. Interesting in that the window for the Cubs sale for Thomas Ricketts was set at 30 days, although that timeline was extended well past the announced window. It is possible, based on the Cubs sale, that should Greenberg run into issues closing the deal that the 45 day window could be extended, given that it is a self-imposed deadline.

An unconfirmed source to The Biz of Baseball has reported that Tom Hicks has selected Chuck Greenbergâ€™s bid over Jim Crane and Dennis Gilbert for the rights to enter an exclusive negotiating window to complete the purchase of the Texas Rangers. The selection of Greenberg does not mean that he will own the club, but does pave the way to reach a sales agreement with Hicks. If that sales agreement is met, it would then have to meet the muster of MLBâ€™s Executive and Ownership Committees before needing approval from 75 percent of the leagueâ€™s 30 owners to finalize the deal.

With Greenberg having Rangers president Nolan Ryan as a key member of his ownership group, with a solid core of local investors, approval for ownership transfer should be smooth sailing.

Details as to the total amount of the selected bid is not yet known. In a late day development, Greenbergâ€™s group sweetened their offer to counter Houston businessman Jim Craneâ€™s offer that was reportedly the highest of the three bidders submissions at the time. It is possible that while Craneâ€™s offer could ultimately be higher, Hicks may have selected Greenberg due to his willingness to retain Hicks in a minority ownership capacity, as well as Ryanâ€™s strong credibility, not only within the ownership ranks, but with fans, as well.